DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 9, 14, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohnishi’746 (US 2016/0241746).
With respect to claim 1, Ohnishi’746 teaches a method for profile management of printers (Fig.10), the method comprising:
receiving, by a printer [the print control system (Fig.1, item 100)], a print job containing a color profile requirement from a user (paragraphs 73 and 74, and Fig.9, step S901);
checking, by the printer, the color profile requirement for a color space match (paragraphs 75, 76 and 102);
determining, by the printer, if the color space match of the color profile requirement is met by the printer (paragraph 102);
checking, by the printer, access requirements for the color profile requirement for the user (paragraph 102); and
printing, by the printer, the print job when the access requirement for the color profile requirement is met for the user (paragraph 41).
With respect to claim 9. The method according to claim 1, Ohnishi’746 taches determining, by the printer, that the color space match of the color profile requirement is met by the printer when the printer can achieve a predetermined percentage of matching of a color space for the color print job (paragraphs 75, 76 and 102).
With respect to claim 14, which further limits claim 1, Ohnishi’746 receiving, by the printer, the color profile requirement of the print job in one or more color modes, the one or more color modes including one of CMYK, LAB, sRGB and Adobe® RGB (paragraph 108);
converting, by the printer, the one or more color modes of the print job to a CMYK color space (paragraph 81);
determining, by the printer, if the converted CMYK color space is met by the printer (paragraph 41); and
printing, by the printer, the print job when the converted CMYK color space the printer meets match (paragraph 41).
With respect to claim 15, it is a claim regarding to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing thereon a computer program. It is analyzed and rejected for the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
With respect to claim 20, Ohnishi’746 teaches a printer [regarding to the system shown in Fig.1] comprising:
a processor (Fig.2, item 200 and Fig.3, item 300) configured to:
receive a print job containing a color profile requirement from a user (paragraphs 73 and 74, and Fig.9, step S901);
check the color profile requirement for a color space match (paragraphs 75, 76 and 102);
determine if the color space match of the color profile requirement is met by the printer (paragraph 102);
check access requirements for the color profile requirement for the user (paragraph 102); and
cause the print job to print when the access requirement for the color profile requirement is met for the user (paragraph 41).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2-6 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi’746 (US 2016/0241746), and further in view of Chang’100 (US 2019/0303100).
With respect to claim 2, which further limits claim 1, Ohnishi’746 does not teach receiving, by the printer, an authenticator from the user for access to the multifunction; and determining, by the printer, an access level for the user based on the authenticator received by the printer.
Chang’100 teaches receiving, by the printer, an authenticator from the user for access to the multifunction (paragraph 165); and
determining, by the printer, an access level for the user based on the authenticator received by the printer (paragraph 165).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
With respect to claim 3, which further limits claim 2, Ohnishi’746 does not teach printing, by the printer, the print job when the access level for the user is equal to or greater than the access lever for the print job.
Chang’100 teaches printing, by the printer, the print job when the access level for the user is equal to or greater than the access lever for the print job (Fig.5 and paragraph 166).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
With respect to claim 4, which further limits claim 3, Ohnishi’746 does not teach restricting, by the printer, access to the printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors to only a certain group of users, the certain group of users having access to all printers within a network of printers.
Chang’100 teaches restricting, by the printer, access to the printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors to only a certain group of users, the certain group of users having access to all printers within a network of printers [Whether the usage or service of each output device is restricted to certain groups, in which case the user may have to provide authentication information to be identified as member of such a group before use of that device is allowed (paragraph 139). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that the accessing to the printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors is one of the usage or service provided by the printer and to restrict or to allow a user to access to a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors according to the user’s provided authentication information such that an user is being restricted to access to a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors is one of the usage or service provide by the printer when the said user fails to provide the desired authentication information because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively ].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
With respect to claim 5, which further limits claim 3, Ohnishi’746 does not teach requesting, by the printer, an access code from the user to execute the print job; receiving, by the printer, the access code from the user to execute the print job; and determining, by the printer, if the access code received from the user matches an access code for the user to execute the print job.
Chang’100 teaches requesting, by the printer, an access code from the user to execute the print job (paragraph 165);
receiving, by the printer, the access code from the user to execute the print job (paragraph 165); and
determining, by the printer, if the access code received from the user matches an access code for the user to execute the print job [Whether the usage or service of each output device is restricted to certain groups, in which case the user may have to provide authentication information to be identified as member of such a group before use of that device is allowed (paragraph 139)].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
With respect to claim 6, which further limits claim 2, Ohnishi’746 does not teach wherein the access level for the user includes access to one or more of a printer with a CMYK color space or a printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors.
Chang’100 teaches wherein the access level for the user includes access to one or more of a printer with a CMYK color space or a printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors [Whether the usage or service of each output device is restricted to certain groups, in which case the user may have to provide authentication information to be identified as member of such a group before use of that device is allowed (paragraph 139). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that the accessing to the printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors is one of the usage or service provided by the printer and to restrict or to allow a user to access to a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors according to the user’s provided authentication information because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
With respect to claim 10, which further limits claim 1, does not teach a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users having an access level, the access level for each of the plurality of users including no access to the printer with a CMYK color space, access to the printer with the CMYK color space, access to the printer with the CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors with an access code, and access to the printer with the CMYK color space plus the one or more additional colors without the access code.
Chang’100 teaches a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users having an access level, the access level for each of the plurality of users including no access to the printer with a CMYK color space, access to the printer with the CMYK color space, access to the printer with the CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors with an access code, and access to the printer with the CMYK color space plus the one or more additional colors without the access code [Whether the usage or service of each output device is restricted to certain groups, in which case the user may have to provide authentication information to be identified as member of such a group before use of that device is allowed (paragraph 139). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that accessing to the printer with a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors is one of the usage or service provided by the printer and to restrict or to allow a user to access to a CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors according to the user’s provided authentication information such that a use is not allowing to access to the printer with a CMYK color space, a user is allowing to access to the printer with the CMYK color space, a user is allowing to access to the printer with the CMYK color space plus one or more additional colors with an access code, and a user is allowing to access to the printer with the CMYK color space plus the one or more additional colors without the access code because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively. ].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
With respect to claims 16-19, they are claims regarding to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing thereon a computer program. They are analyzed and rejected for the same reason set forth in the rejection of claims 2-5.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi’746 (US 2016/0241746), Chang’100 (US 2019/0303100) and further in view of
Piazza’732 (US 2007/0146732).
With respect to claim 7, which further limits claim 2, the combination of Ohnishi’746 and Chang’100 does not teach wherein the checking by the printer the access requirements for the color profile requirement for the user comprises: forwarding, by the printer, the authenticator received from the user to a remote server with a request to authenticate the user on the printer; and receiving, by the printer, the access requirements for the color profile requirement for the user.
Piazza’732 teaches wherein the checking by the printer the access requirements for the color profile requirement for the user comprises: forwarding, by the printer, the authenticator received from the user to a remote server with a request to authenticate the user on the printer (paragraph 41 and Fig.8, step s801); and
receiving, by the printer, the access requirements for the color profile requirement for the user (Fig.8, step S808).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ohnishi’746 and Chang’100 according to the teaching of Piazza’732 to include a server to perform user authentication processing because this will allow the authentication processing to be perform more effectively.
With respect to claim 8, which further limits claim 2, Ohnishi’746 does not teach wherein the authenticator received from the user on the printer comprises: receiving, the biometric authenticator on a biometric authenticator device associated with the printer, the biometric authenticator device including one or more of a sensor, a scanning device, or an electronic reader, and wherein the biometric identifier of the user being at least one physiological characteristic of the user, and wherein the at least one physiological characteristic is selected from one or more of fingerprints, palm veins, face recognition, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina, and/or odor/scent; receiving, the smart card on a card reader associated with the printer; and receiving, by the printer, the authenticator from the user via a client device via a wireless communication protocol, the wireless protocol being a near-field communication (NFC) or a Bluetooth technology standard, and wherein the client device is a mobile device, a smart phone, or a wearable device.
Chang’100 teaches wherein the authenticator received from the user on the printer comprises: receiving, the biometric authenticator on a biometric authenticator device associated with the printer, the biometric authenticator device including one or more of a sensor, a scanning device, or an electronic reader, and wherein the biometric identifier of the user being at least one physiological characteristic of the user, and
wherein the at least one physiological characteristic is selected from one or more of fingerprints, palm veins, face recognition, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina, and/or odor/scent (paragraph 165);
receiving, by the printer, the authenticator from the user via a client device via a wireless communication protocol, the wireless protocol being a near-field communication (NFC) or a Bluetooth technology standard [In service negotiation process 514, information apparatus 100 exchanges information with output controllers 120 connected to or installed in the available output devices 140 (paragraph 134) and the exchanged information includes the user’s authentication information (paragraph 165). In addition, the information apparatus 100 and the output device are communicated via wireless (claim 1)], and
wherein the client device is a mobile device, a smart phone, or a wearable device (claim 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according to the teaching of Chang’100 to require users to provide authentication before using the functions of a printer because this will allow the printer to be managed more effectively.
The combination of Ohnishi’746 and Chang’100 does not teach receiving, the smart card on a card reader associated with the printer.
Piazza’732 teaches receiving, the smart card on a card reader associated with the printer (paragraph 42).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ohnishi’746 and Chang’100 according to the teaching of Piazza’732 to include a card reader in printer to perform user authentication processing because this will allow the authentication processing to be perform more effectively.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi’746 (US 2016/0241746), Chang’100 (US 2019/0303100) and further in view of
Tanaka’384 (US 2006/0221384).
With respect to claim 11, which further limits claim 10, the combination of Ohnishi’746 and Chang’100 does not teach receiving, by the printer, a request to transfer the color print job to the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printer with the CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more; and forwarding, by the printer, the color print job to the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printer with the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more to be printed.
Tanaka’384 teaches receiving, by the printer, a request to transfer the color print job to the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printer with the CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more [the user operates the MFP to distribute the print job to the different MFPs for printing according to the capabilities of the MFPs (paragraphs 159, 160 and 194). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize to select a MFP which provides with the CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more when a job for distribution is required to be printed with the CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more because this will allow the print job to be printed with high quality]; and
forwarding, by the printer, the color print job to the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printer with the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more to be printed [the user operates the MFP to distribute the print job to the different MFPs for printing according to the capabilities of the MFPs (paragraphs 159, 160 and 194). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize to select a MFP which provides with the CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more for printing a job and then forward the said job to the selected MFP when the said job for distribution is required to be printed with the CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more because this will allow the print job to be printed with high quality].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ohnishi’746 and Chang’100 according the teaching of Tanaka’384 to distribute print a job to an MFP which is more suitable for printing the said job because this will allow the print job to be printed more effectively.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi’746 (US 2016/0241746) and further in view of Inoue’281 (2007/0172281).
With respect to claim 12. The method according to claim 1, Ohnishi’746 does not teach notifying, by the printer, the user when the user does not have the access requirements for the color profile requirement for the color print job.
Inoue’281 teaches notifying, by the printer, the user when the user does not have the access requirements for the color profile requirement for the color print job [when the user is not permitted perform color printing, a user is being notified the color print job is being restricted (paragraph 80 and Fig.6, steps S158 and S159). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize to notify a user when the user is being determined not authorized to print a color print job (color profile requirement for the color print job) because this will allow a user to be acknowledged when his/her color job is not able to be printed more effectively].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according the teaching of Inoue’281 to notify a user when the user is being determined not authorized to print a color print job (color profile requirement for the color print job) because this will allow a user to be acknowledged when his/her color job is not able to be printed more effectively.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi’746 (US 2016/0241746) and further in view of Shindo’133 (US 2012/0251133) and Tanaka’384 (US 2006/0221384).
With respect to claim 13, which further limits claim1, Ohnishi’746 does not teach wherein the printers comprise a plurality of printers, and one or more of the plurality of printers has a CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more, the method further comprising: finding, by the printer, at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers when the color print job requires the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more; and notifying, by the printer, the user of the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers with the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more.
Shindo’133 teaches wherein the printers comprise a plurality of printers, and one or more of the plurality of printers has a CMYK color space plus a fifth color or more (Fig.1)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Ohnishi’746 according the teaching of Shindo’133 to include both of the printers providing CMYK toners and the printers providing CMYK toners and a special toner because this will allow a desired printer to be selected to perform printing more effectively.
The combination of Ohnishi’746 and Shindo’133 does not teach finding, by the printer, at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers when the color print job requires the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more; and notifying, by the printer, the user of the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers with the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more.
Tanaka’384 teaches that the user operates the MFP to distribute the print job to the different MFPs for printing according to the capabilities of the MFPs (paragraphs 159, 160 and 194).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ohnishi’746 and Shindo’133 according to the teaching of Tanaka’384 to enable a printer to display the printers including the printers providing CMYK toners and the printers providing CMYK toners and a special toner and then to enable to a user to select a printer providing CMYK toners and the printers providing CMYK toners and a special toner to perform a distributed job which is required to be printed with the CMYK toners and a special toner (finding, by the printer, at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers when the color print job requires the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more; and notifying, by the printer, the user of the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers with the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more) ( finding, by the printer, at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers when the color print job requires the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more; and notifying, by the printer, the user of the at least one of the one or more of the plurality of printers with the CMYK color space plus the fifth color or more) because this will allow a desired printer to be selected to perform printing more effectively.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUO LONG CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3759. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9am - 5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tieu, Benny can be reached on (571) 272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HUO LONG CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
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